The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop 53 3/4 ton truck cab not level

I'm looking at the cab mounts up front from below. From the top they are not visible. The floor is not original so I guess it was covered up. I'm asking but hoping that I don't have to remove the floorboards. I have the parts so hoping to do it myself.
As far as the rear ones. The bushings are there and look solid but I'm sure they are old. With them looking alright would that still allow the cab to sag on one side?

Before you dig in deeper maybe measure the cab to the frame and cab to the floor to know how much it is off.

Try to jack up the front corner on the low side to see how easily it moves up to being level.

I can do that this afternoon but I know it's about 1 1/2 inch to 2 inches. Just from crawling under it on both sides.

You can take the nuts off of the front cab bolts and use a pry bar to lift the cab to get a better look at your front cab supports to see if one of them is collapsed or completely missing. The rear shackles will articulate enough to allow this to happen.
If the rubber is sound in your rear shackle mounts they will be fine even if the rubber is hard as a carp.
Your trouble is up front more than likely.

Looking at the front mount shown it looks like the rubber is in the wrong spot .The rubber goes between the floor brace and the frame support ,looks like yours is under the frame support.

Measurements are about one inch lower on the driver side. I'll start scraping old gunk off so I can see it better.
I can't get to the inside can part to see the bolt there.

This is the park brake, the floor material was replaced and I don't know how to get to the bolt, underside the tension on the bolt is lose,

Based on those pictures, I'm going to say your front cab support is rotted away.

[on edit] Looks like you might be able to unscrew that added floor material. The bolt head is aft of the parking brake pedal a bit. Maybe they just covered the depression where the bolt head is.

Something weird here as you reported the drivers side is 1" lower but the original picture shows the passenger side lower.

I think you need to remove the metal added on the inside just so you can get a better picture of what you have. It appears that the added metal is either screwed or pop rivited in place (at least on the driver's side).

From what we can see on the driver's side pictures it appears the floor is in pretty bad shape so you may be looking at a fairly signficant task of rebiulding the cab support and floor structure. Depending on what you want to end up with there are a lot of different ways to go.

To me it looks bad bad. I can replace the mount but I believe the cabs sheet metal has collapsed.
In need of a professional old time body shop?

Looks bad to me, too but I've seen much worse get repaired.

Your truck looks exactly the way that my truck looked. The cab appearing to list to one side was the combination of several things. The front floor was rotted out, as was the underfloor support and the cab mounting pad. The rear cab mounts needed rebuilding. And the worst offender to how it looked, but not how it actually sat on the frame, was the bed! The bed had shifted due to the original wood blocks rotting and the rear bed support rotting. So, even after I fixed all of the cab related issues, it still appeared to list to one side. It wasn't until I took the bed off that I realized the cab was straight in relation to the frame. Look for my project journal to see pics that may remind you of your truck...it's title is Restoring the basketcase.

Unfortunately the cab structure has failed and will need to be rebuild to have the cab securely attached to the frame and level. My cab was not quite that bad but I needed to replace the floor from the seat forward into the firewall, the inner, outer, and inner to outer cowl panels. As Gray_Ghost says it can be done but it is not easy and if you are not going to do it your self can be pricey.

For my benefit, to repair the cab the sheet metal will have to be repaired/replaced. Requires cutting & welding. The sheet metal holds the cab in shape structurally so that the mounts can hold it?

Yes, you'll need to replace the floor sheet metal and the front cab supports, and possibly the rocker panels. The kick panels also help support everything and may need replacing as well. Take a look at my photos in the Flikr link in my signature. Start at about Page 4. I went through that whole deal. Other guys have done similar restoration. That kind of rot is pretty common for AD trucks.

I give the design guys both props and disdain. Individually, the parts are somewhat wobbly. Integrated together and the whole becomes a tank. The disdain is only for the reason that it can be difficult to maneuver some of the parts into position. That could be from my rebuilding technique, though. To keep things from getting away from me, I worked on one section at a time. I know some guys blow the whole thing apart. However, I knew if I did that, it would never go back together! The inner cowls were the most troublesome to fit into place, for me. My experience was that the welded up inner-to-outer cowl piece is useless. Try to find the single stamped piece. It will still require some fitting, but it is manageable. Go slow, take lots of pics and ask questions. If I could do it (a total newbie), then anyone can do it.

Very well stated. Especially about working on one section at a time so as not to lose your place and end up with sheet metal where it isn't supposed to be. You can't get away with that even once.

Most impressive! I'm still looking & reading .

I may be on the wrong track. I visited a new neighbor this afternoon. He builds RODS. I'll post a couple of his pictures.
His wife eye balled my truck from the back & quickly said my Cab is level, my bed is not level!
He said if his wife says something is a certain way, it is in fact!
So looking at the bed It does appear that the driver side is low. I'll have to remove the bed to figure it out.
Tomorrow I'll drive the truck to my local town where a body man works. Hopefully he can help me with at least the floorboard. The frame beneath the mount looks solid. So I'll learn more.

Your bed may not be level, but looking at those pics of the cab, it will need some work as well. It may have just settled the same amount on both sides if the lady says the cab is level.